Method and device for transmitting system information

ABSTRACT

A method for transmitting system information, includes: determining identifiers of a plurality of pieces of second system information from first system information, wherein the first system information is system information that is periodically broadcast by a base station, and the plurality of pieces of second system information are system information other than the system information included by the first system information; determining transmission status of the plurality of pieces of second system information based on the identifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system information, and broadcasting the first system information, wherein the first system information includes the identifiers and the transmission status of the plurality of pieces of second system information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/446,794, filed Jun. 20, 2019, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2016/111067, filed Dec. 20, 2016,the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a method and device for transmittingsystem information.

BACKGROUND

In a communication network, a base station generally needs to transmitsystem information to terminals within a management scope of the basestation. This system information is for supporting networkcommunications of the terminals. For example, the system information caninclude such information as cell resource information, cell re-selectioninformation or TA (Timing Advance) lists.

Currently, 5G (The Fifth Generation Mobile Communication Technology) hasdeveloped rapidly. The system information in 5G communication networkhas been distinguished as Minimum SI (Minimum System Information) andOther SI (Other System Information) in RAN2# conference in August 2016.Wherein, the Minimum SI refers to the system information that needs tobe periodically broadcast by the base station, and at least includes thecell resource information and identifier of the Other SI supported bythe base station. The Other SI refers to the system information notbroadcast in the Minimum SI Namely, the Other SI refers to the systeminformation other than the system information included by the MinimumSI. And the Other SI needs to be sent as required by the terminal.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method fortransmitting system information includes: determining identifiers of aplurality of pieces of second system information from first systeminformation, wherein the first system information is system informationthat is periodically broadcast by a base station, and the plurality ofpieces of second system information are system information other thanthe system information included by the first system information;determining transmission status of the plurality of pieces of secondsystem information based on the identifiers of the plurality of piecesof second system information, and broadcasting the first systeminformation, wherein the first system information includes theidentifiers and the transmission status of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method fortransmitting system information includes, receiving first systeminformation broadcast by a base station, wherein the first systeminformation includes identifiers and transmission status of a pluralityof pieces of second system information, wherein the first systeminformation is system information that is periodically broadcast by thebase station, and the plurality of pieces of second system informationare system information other than the system information included by thefirst system information; acquiring a transmission status of targetsystem information from the first system information based on anidentifier of the target system information when the target systeminformation needs to be acquired, wherein the target system informationis one of the plurality of pieces of second system information; and whendetermining that the target system information is being transmittedbased on the transmission status of the target system information,acquiring the target system information based on information that isbeing transmitted by the base station.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a base stationincludes: a processor; and a memory storing an instruction executable bythe processor, wherein the processor is configured to: determineidentifiers of a plurality of pieces of second system information fromfirst system information, wherein the first system information is systeminformation that is periodically broadcast by the base station, and theplurality of pieces of second system information are system informationother than the system information included by the first systeminformation; determine transmission status of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information based otransn the identifiers of the pluralityof pieces of second system information, and broadcast the first systeminformation, wherein the first system information includes theidentifiers and the transmission status of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminalincludes: a processor, and a memory storing an instruction executable bythe processor, wherein the processor is configured to receive firstsystem information broadcast by a base station, wherein the first systeminformation includes identifiers and transmission status of a pluralityof pieces of second system information, wherein the first systeminformation is system information that is periodically broadcast by thebase station, and the plurality of pieces of second system informationare system information other than the system information included by thefirst system information; acquire a transmission status of target systeminformation from the first system information based on an identifier ofthe target system information when the target system information needsto be acquired, wherein the target system information is one of theplurality of pieces of second system information; and when it isdetermined that the target system information is being transmitted basedon the transmission status of the target system information, acquire thetarget system information based on information that is being transmittedby the base station.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings herein, which are incorporated in and constitute a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the presentdisclosure and explain the principles of the present disclosure togetherwith the description.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5C is a block diagram of an acquisition module according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail. Theembodiments are shown in the drawings. In the following description whenreferring to the drawings, the same numerals in the different drawingsdenote the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. Theembodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not allembodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they aremerely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects ofthe present disclosure as derailed in the appended claims.

Methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may beapplied to scenarios in which a base station transmits systeminformation to a terminal. In a 5G communication network, the systeminformation is distinguished as Minimum SI and Other SI. The basestation can periodically broadcast the Minimum SI, but transmit theOther SI as required by the terminal. For example, the terminal sends anacquisition request to the base station when needing to acquire someOther SI, and the base station may not send the Other SI to the terminalor broadcast the Other SI until it receives the acquisition request.Since in the related art, for each piece of Other SI, the terminal needsto send an acquisition request to the base station for acquisition, theefficiency of transmitting the system information is relatively lower.Besides, a heavy signaling load will be brought for the base station. Inorder to improve the efficiency of transmitting the system informationand reduce the signaling load of the base station, an embodiment of thepresent disclosure provides a method for transmitting systeminformation, described in detail as below.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 , the method isapplied to a base station, and includes the following steps.

In step 101, identifiers of a plurality of pieces of currently supportedsecond system information are determined from first system information.The first system information refers to the system information that isperiodically broadcast by the current base station. The plurality ofpieces of second system information refer to the system informationother than the system information included by the first systeminformation.

In step 102, transmission status of the plurality of pieces of secondsystem information is determined based on the identifiers of theplurality of pieces of second system information.

In step 103, the first system information is broadcast. The first systeminformation includes the identifiers and the transmission status of theplurality of pieces of second system information. The transmissionstatus may be used for indicating whether the corresponding secondsystem information is being transmitted. In one embodiment, thetransmission status is used for indicating whether the correspondingsecond system information is being broadcast.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station candetermine the identifiers of the plurality of pieces of currentlysupported second system information from the first system information,can still determine the transmission status of the plurality of piecesof second system information based on the identifiers of the pluralityof pieces of second system information, and therefore, can broadcast thefirst system information that includes the identifiers and thetransmission status of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation. The transmission status may be used for indicating whetherthe corresponding second system information is being transmitted. Thefirst system information refers to the system information that isperiodically broadcast by the base station. The second systeminformation refers to the system information other than the systeminformation included by the first system information. Since the firstsystem information includes the transmission status of each piece ofsecond system information, after receiving the first system informationthat is broadcast by the base station, a terminal can determine whetherthe second system information that needs to be acquired at present isbeing transmitted based or, the first system information. If yes, thesecond system information can be directly acquired from the informationthat is being transmitted by the base station without sending anacquisition request to the base station and the base station does notneed to repeatedly send the second system information. Thus, theefficiency of transmitting the system information is improved and thesignaling load of the base station is reduced.

In one embodiment, the transmission status includes a first transmissionstatus and a second transmission status. For example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being transmitted, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being transmitted. Also for example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being broadcast, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being broadcast.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission status of the second systeminformation is the first transmission status, the first systeminformation further includes a transmission mode of the second systeminformation. The transmission mode includes a broadcast mode or aunicast mode.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission mode of the second system informationis the broadcast mode, the first system information further includes abroadcast address of the second system information.

Any combination of the above embodiments can form an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and will not be described one by one herein.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2 , the method isapplied to a terminal and includes the following steps.

In step 201, first system information broadcast by a base station isreceived. The first system information includes identifiers andtransmission status of a plurality of pieces of second systeminformation. The transmission status may be used for indicating whetherthe corresponding second system information is being transmitted. In oneembodiment, the transmission status is used for indicating whether thecorresponding second system information is being broadcast. The firstsystem information refers to the system information that is periodicallybroadcast by the base station. The plurality of pieces of second systeminformation refer to the system information other than the systeminformation included by the first system information.

In step 202, a transmission status of target system information isacquired from the first system information based on an identifier of thetarget system information when the target system information needs to beacquired. The target system information is any one of the plurality ofpieces of second system information.

In step 203, when it is determined that the target system information isbeing transmitted based on the transmission status of the target systeminformation, the target system information is acquired based oninformation that is being transmitted by the base station.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal can receivethe first system information broadcast by the base station. Since thefirst system information includes the identifiers and the transmissionstatus of the plurality of pieces of second system information supportedby the base station, the terminal can acquire the transmission status ofthe target system information from the first system information whenneeding to acquire the target system information. The target systeminformation is any one of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation. If it is determined that the target system information isbeing transmitted based on the transmission status of the target systeminformation, the target system information can be directly acquiredbased on the information that is being transmitted by the base stationwithout sending an acquisition request to the base station and the basestation does not need to repeatedly send the second system information.Thus, the efficiency of transmitting the system information is improvedand the signaling load of the base station is reduced.

In one embodiment, before acquiring the target system information basedon the information that is being transmitted by the base station, themethod further includes, judging whether the transmission status of thetarget system information is a first transmission status, wherein thefirst transmission status may be used for indicating that the targetsystem information is being transmitted; and determining that the targetsystem information is being transmitted when the transmission status ofthe target system information is the first transmission status.

In one embodiment, acquiring the target system information based on theinformation that is being transmitted by the base station includes:acquiring a transmission mode of the target system information from thefirst system information; acquiring a broadcast address of the targetsystem information from the first system information when thetransmission mode of the target system information is a broadcast mode;and acquiring the target system information from the information that isbeing transmitted by the base station based on the broadcast address.

Any combination of the above embodiments can form an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and will not be described one by one herein.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting system informationaccording to an exemplary embodiment. For example, the method may beperformed by a base station and a terminal, e.g., in a 5G communicationnetwork. As shown in FIG. 3 , the method includes the following steps.

In step 301, the base station determines identifiers of a plurality ofpieces of currently supported second system information from firstsystem information. The first system information refers to the systeminformation that is periodically broadcast by the current base station.The plurality of pieces of second system information refer to the systeminformation other than the system information included by the firstsystem information. For example, the plurality of pieces of secondsystem information may be the system information that is not included bythe first system information.

The first system information can include the identifiers of theplurality of pieces of second system information that is currentlysupported by the base station, such that the base station can determinethe identifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system informationfrom the first system information.

Taking the 5G communication network as an example, the first systeminformation can be Minimum SI and the second system information can beOther SI. The Minimum SI at least includes cell resource information andidentifiers of a plurality of Other SI supported by the base station.The Minimum SI is periodically broadcast by the base station. The OtherSI needs to be sent based on a request of the terminal within themanagement scope of the base station.

In step 302, the base station determines transmission status of theplurality of pieces of second system information based on theidentifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system information. Thetransmission status may be used for indicating whether the correspondingsecond system information is being transmitted. In one embodiment, thetransmission status is used for indicating whether the correspondingsecond system information is being broadcast.

The base station can determine the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation supported by the base station in accordance with theidentifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system information.Further, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, whether the second system information is being transmittedis determined. That is, the transmission status of each of the pluralityof pieces of second system information is determined.

In step 303, the base station broadcasts the first system information.The first system information includes the identifiers and thetransmission status of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation.

After determining the transmission status of each of the plurality ofpieces of second system information, the base station can add thetransmission status of each piece of second system information into thebroadcast first system information to indicate whether the correspondingsecond system information is being transmitted.

The base station can periodically broadcast the first systeminformation. A broadcast period of the first system information can bese: by the base station by default and can also be set by thenegotiation of the base station and the terminal, which will not belimited by the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, the transmission status may include a first transmission statusand a second transmission status. For example, the first transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is being transmitted, and the second transmission status isused for indicating that the corresponding second system information isnot being transmitted. Also for example, the first transmission statusis used for indicating that the corresponding second system informationis being broadcast, and the second transmission status is used forindicating that the corresponding second system information is not beingbroadcast.

In consideration that some of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation may be transmitted by the base station and some may not betransmitted by the base station, in order to clearly indicate whethereach second system information is being transmitted, the transmissionstatus can include the above-mentioned two transmission status.

In one embodiment, two different status indication identifiers can beadopted to indicate the two transmission status respectively. Forexample, a first status indication identifier can be adopted to indicatethe first transmission status, and a second status indication identifiercan be adopted to indicate the second transmission status. For example,the first status indication identifier can be 0 and the second statusindication identifier can be 1.

Further, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission status of the second systeminformation is the first transmission status, the first systeminformation can further include a transmission mode of the second systeminformation. The transmission mode includes a broadcast mode or aunicast mode.

For example, for the second system information that is beingtransmitted, the base station can further determine the transmissionmode of the second system information, so that the second systeminformation is being transmitted by means of broadcast or unicast isdetermined. And the transmission mode of the second system informationcan be indicated in the first system information by the base station.

In one embodiment, two different transmission indication identifiers canbe adopted to indicate the two transmission modes respectively. Forexample, a first transmission indication identifier can be adopted toindicate the broadcast mode, and a second transmission indicationidentifier can be adopted to indicate the unicast mode. For example, thefirst transmission indication identifier can be 3, and the secondtransmission indication identifier can be 4.

Further, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission mode of the second system informationis the broadcast mode, the first system information further includes abroadcast address of the second system information.

For example, for the second system information that is being transmittedby means of broadcast, the base station can further determine thebroadcast address of the second system information And the broadcastaddress of the second system information can be indicated in the firstsystem information by the base station.

The broadcast address is used for indicating a time-frequency resourceof the second system information during transmission of the secondsystem information. For example, the broadcast address can include atransmission period of the second system information, sub-frameinformation or symbol information where the second system informationis, and the like.

For example, assuming that the base station supports three second systeminformation, namely Other SI-1, Other SI-2 and Other SI-3, in whichOther SI-1 and Other SI-2 are being transmitted, Other SI-3 is not beingtransmitted, the transmission mode of Other SI-1 is the broadcast modeand the transmission mode of Other SI-2 is the unicast mode. On thisbasis, the first system information at least includes information asshown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Identifiers of the Second System Information Other SI-1 Beingtransmitted Broadcast Broadcast address Other SI-2 Being transmittedUnicast Other SI-3 Not being transmitted

In should be noted that the embodiment of the present disclosure merelyillustrates the first system information by taking Table 1 as anexample. However, neither the form nor the content of the Table 1 limitsthe embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in anotherembodiment, the first status indication identifier 0 can be adopted toindicate “being transmitted”, the second status indication identifier 1can be adopted to indicate “not being transmitted”, the firsttransmission indication identifier 3 can be adopted to indicatebroadcast transmission, and the second transmission indicationidentifier 4 can be adopted to indicate unicast transmission.

In step 304, the terminal receives the first system informationbroadcast by the base station.

The terminal within the management scope of the base station can receivethe first system information broadcast by the base station.

In step 305, a transmission status of target system information isacquired by the terminal from the first system information based on anidentifier of the target system information when the terminal needs toacquire the target system information. The target system information isany one of the plurality of pieces of second system information.

When there is need to acquire the target system information, theterminal can search for the transmission status to which the identifierof the target system information corresponds from the first systeminformation, and determine the transmission status to which theidentifier of the target system information corresponds as thetransmission status of the target system information. After that,whether the target system information is being transmitted can be judgedby the terminal in accordance with the transmission status of the targetsystem information.

In one embodiment, judging whether the target system information isbeing transmitted in accordance with the transmission status of thetarget system information includes: judging whether the transmissionstatus of the target system information is the first transmissionstatus; determining that the target system information is beingtransmitted when the transmission status of the target systeminformation is the first transmission status; and determining that thetarget system information is not being transmitted when the transmissionstatus of the target system information is the second transmissionstatus.

In step 306, the terminal acquires the target system information basedon information that is being transmitted by the base station when it isdetermined that the target system information is being transmitted basedon the transmission status of the target system information.

In one embodiment, acquiring the target system information based on theinformation that is being transmitted by the base station includesacquiring a transmission mode of the target system information from thefirst system information; acquiring a broadcast address of the targetsystem information from the first system information when thetransmission mode of the target system information is a broadcast mode;and acquiring the target system information from the information that isbeing transmitted by the base station based on the broadcast address.

Further, when it is determined that the target system information is notbeing transmitted based on the transmission status of the target systeminformation, or when it is determined that the target system informationis being transmitted by means of unicast based on the transmissionstatus of the target system information, the terminal can send anacquisition request to the base station. The acquisition request carriesan identifier of the target system information and is for requesting thebase station to transmit the target system information to the terminal.After receiving the acquisition request, the base station can transmitthe target system information to the terminal.

For example, when a certain terminal within the management scope of thebase station needs to acquire the target system information, in theplurality of pieces of second system information that can be supportedby the base station, some may be being transmitted by the base station,and some may not be being transmitted. In the second system informationthat is being transmitted, some may be transmitted by means ofbroadcast, and some may be transmitted by means of unicast, namely, endto end. If the terminal knows the broadcast address of the second systeminformation that is transmitted by means of broadcast, the target systeminformation that is being broadcast by the base station can be receivedby the terminal based on the broadcast address. Since the second systeminformation that is transmitted by means of unicast is sent by the basestation to another terminal end to end but not by means of broadcast,the terminal cannot receive the second system information.

Therefore, when the target system information is not being transmitted,the terminal can acquire the target system information from the basestation by sending an acquisition request. When the target systeminformation is being transmitted, the terminal can inquire thetransmission mode of the target system information from the first systeminformation. If the transmission mode of the target system informationis the broadcast mode, the target system information that is beingbroadcast by the base station can be directly received by the terminalin accordance with the broadcast address of the target systeminformation. If the transmission mode of the target system informationis the unicast mode, the terminal may need to send an acquisitionrequest to the base station to acquire the target system information.

Since the target system information that is being broadcast by the basestation is received in accordance with the broadcast address of thetarget system information, the terminal does not need to send a requestto the base station for acquiring the target system information. Thus,the efficiency of transmitting the target system information isimproved. Meanwhile, the base station does not need to repeatedlybroadcast the target system information, thereby, the signaling load ofthe base station is reduced.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present disclosure onlytakes that the target system information is any one of the plurality ofpieces of second system information as an example for explanation.However, in practice, different base stations may support differentsecond system information. The second system information that theterminal needs to acquire may be not in the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information currently supported by the base stations towhich the terminal corresponds. Thus, the terminal can determine whetherthe identifier of the second system information that the terminal needsto acquire exists in the first system information first when needing toacquire the second system information. If yes, steps 305-306 arecontinuously executed. If not, the steps 305-306 may not be executed andthe request for acquiring the target system information may not be sentto the base station.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station candetermine the identifiers of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation that is currently supported by the base station from thefirst system information, can still determine the transmission status ofthe plurality of pieces of second system information based on theidentifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system information, andtherefore, can broadcast the first system information that includes theidentifiers and the transmission status of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information. The transmission status may be used forindicating whether the corresponding second system information is beingtransmitted. The first system information refers to the systeminformation that is periodically broadcast by the base station. Thesecond system information refers to the system information other thanthe system information included by the first system information. Sincethe first system information includes the transmission status of eachsecond system information, after receiving the system information thatis broadcast by the base station, the terminal can determine whether thesecond system information that needs to be acquired currently is beingtransmitted based on the first system information. If yes, the secondsystem information can be directly acquired from the information that isbeing transmitted by the base station without sending an acquisitionrequest to the base station and the base station does not need torepeatedly send the second system information. Thus, the efficiency oftransmitting the system information is improved and the signaling loadof the base station is reduced.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment. The device can be abase station. Referring to FIG. 4 , the device includes: a firstdetermination module 401, a second determination module 402, and abroadcast module 403.

The first determination module 401 is configured to determineidentifiers of a plurality of pieces of currently supported secondsystem information from first system information, wherein the firstsystem information refers to the system information that is periodicallybroadcast by the current base station, and the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information refer to the system information other than thesystem information included by the first system information.

The second determination module 402 is configured to determinetransmission status of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation based on the identifiers of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information.

The broadcast module 403 is configured to broadcast the first systeminformation, wherein the first system information includes theidentifiers and the transmission status of the plurality of pieces ofsecond system information, and the transmission status may be used forindicating whether the corresponding second system information is beingtransmitted.

In one embodiment, the transmission status includes a first transmissionstatus and a second transmission status. For example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being transmitted, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being transmitted. Also for example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being broadcast, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being broadcast.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission status of the second systeminformation is the first transmission status, the first systeminformation further includes a transmission mode of the second systeminformation. The transmission mode includes a broadcast mode or aunicast mode.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission mode of the second system informationis the broadcast mode, the first system information further includes abroadcast address of the second system information.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the device can determinethe identifiers of the plurality of pieces of currently supported secondsystem information from the first system information, can stilldetermine the transmission status of the plurality of pieces of secondsystem information based on the identifiers of the plurality of piecesof second system information, and therefore, can broadcast the firstsystem information that includes the identifiers and the transmissionstatus of the plurality of pieces of second system information. Thetransmission status may be used for indicating whether the correspondingsecond system information is being transmitted. The first systeminformation refers to the system information that is periodicallybroadcast by the base station. The second system information refers tothe system information other than the system information included by thefirst system information. Since the first system information includesthe transmission status of each piece of second system information,after receiving the system information that is broadcast by the basestation, a terminal can determine whether the second system informationthat needs to be acquired at present is being transmitted based on thefirst system information. If yes, the second system information can bedirectly acquired from the information that is being transmitted by thebase station without sending an acquisition request to the base stationand the base station does not need to repeatedly send the second systeminformation. Thus, the efficiency of transmitting the system informationis improved and the signaling load of the base station is reduced.

Specific operations the modules perform have already been described indetail in the method embodiments, and therefore, will not be describedherein in detail.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of a device for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment. The device can be aterminal. Referring to FIG. 5A, the device includes, a receiving module501, a first acquisition module 502, and a second acquisition module503.

The receiving module 501 is configured to receive first systeminformation broadcast by a base station, wherein the first systeminformation includes identifiers and transmission status of a pluralityof pieces of second system information, wherein the transmission statusmay be used for indicating whether the corresponding second systeminformation is being transmitted, the first system information refers tothe system information that is periodically broadcast by the basestation, and the plurality of pieces of second system information referto the system information other than the system information included bythe first system information.

The first acquisition module 502 is configured to acquire a transmissionstatus of target system information from the first system informationbased on an identifier of the target system information when the targetsystem information needs to be acquired, wherein the target systeminformation is any one of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation.

The second acquisition module 503 is configured to, when it isdetermined that the target system information is being transmitted basedon the transmission status of the target system information, acquire thetarget system information based on information that is being transmittedby the base station.

In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 5B, the device further includes: ajudgment module 504 configured to judge whether the transmission statusof the target system information is a first transmission status, whereinthe first transmission status may be used for indicating that the targetsystem information is being transmitted; and a determination module 505configured to determine that the target system information is beingtransmitted when the transmission status of the target systeminformation is the first transmission status.

In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 5C, the second acquisition module503 includes: a first acquisition sub-module 5031 configured to acquirea transmission mode of the target system information from the firstsystem information, a second acquisition sub-module 5032 configured toacquire a broadcast address of the target system information from thefirst system information when the transmission mode of the target systeminformation is a broadcast mode; and a third acquisition sub-module 5033configured to, acquire the target system information from theinformation that is being transmitted by the base station based on thebroadcast address.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the device can receive thefirst system information broadcast by the base station. Since the firstsystem information includes the identifiers and the transmission statusof the plurality of pieces of second system information supported by thebase station, the device can acquire the transmission status of thetarget system information from the first system information when needingto acquire the target system information. The target system informationis any one of the plurality of pieces of second system information. Ifit is determined that the target system information is being transmittedbased on the transmission status of the target system information, thetarget system information can be directly acquired based on theinformation that is being transmitted by the base station withoutsending an acquisition request to the base station and the base stationdoes not need to repeatedly send the second system information. Thus,the efficiency of transmitting the system information is improved andthe signaling load of the base station is reduced.

Specific operations the modules perform have already been described indetail in the method embodiments, and therefore, will not be describedherein in detail.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a device 600 for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, thedevice 600 can be provided as a base station. Referring to FIG. 6 , thedevice 600 includes a processing component 622, as well as a memoryresource represented by a memory 632. The processing component 622further includes one or more processors. The memory resource isconfigured to store an instruction executable by the processingcomponent 622, for example, an application program. The applicationprogram stored in the memory 632 can include one or more modules, eachof which corresponds to one instruction. Besides, the processingcomponent 622 is configured to execute the instruction so as to executethe above-mentioned methods.

The device 600 can further include a power component 626 configured toexecute power management of the device 600, a wired or wireless networkinterface 650 configured to connect the device 600 to network, and anI/O (Input/Output) interface 658. The device 600 can operate based on anoperation system stored in the memory 632, e.g., Windows Server™, Mac OSX™, Unix™, Linux™, FreeBSD™ or other similar operation systems.

In an exemplary embodiment, there is further provided a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium including an instruction. The devicecan execute a method for transmitting system information when theinstruction in the storage medium is executed by the processor of thedevice 600. The method includes determining identifiers of a pluralityof pieces of currently supported second system information from firstsystem information, wherein the first system information refers to thesystem information that is periodically broadcast by a current basestation, and the plurality of pieces of second system information referto the system information other than the system information included bythe first system information; determining transmission status of theplurality of pieces of second system information based on theidentifiers of the plurality of pieces of second system information; andbroadcasting the first system information, wherein the first systeminformation includes the identifiers and the transmission status of theplurality of pieces of second system information, and the transmissionstatus may be used for indicating whether the corresponding secondsystem information is being transmitted.

In one embodiment, the transmission status includes a first transmissionstatus and a second transmission status. For example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being transmitted, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being transmitted. Also for example, the firsttransmission status is used for indicating that the corresponding secondsystem information is being broadcast, and the second transmissionstatus is used for indicating that the corresponding second systeminformation is not being broadcast.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission status of the second systeminformation is the first transmission status, the first systeminformation further includes a transmission mode of the second systeminformation. The transmission mode includes a broadcast mode or aunicast mode.

In one embodiment, for each of the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, when the transmission mode of the second system informationis the broadcast mode, the first system information further includes abroadcast address of the second system information.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the device can determinethe identifiers of the plurality of pieces of currently supported secondsystem information from the first system information, can stilldetermine the transmission status of the plurality of pieces of secondsystem information based on the identifiers of the plurality of piecesof second system information, and therefore can broadcast the firstsystem information that includes the identifiers and the transmissionstatus of the plurality of pieces of second system information. Thetransmission status may be used for indicating whether the correspondingsecond system information is being transmitted. The first systeminformation refers to the system information that is periodicallybroadcast by the base station. The second system information refers tothe system information other than the system information included by thefirst system information. Since the first system information includesthe transmission status of each second system information, afterreceiving the system information that is broadcast by the base station,a terminal can determine whether the second system information thatneeds to be acquired at present is being transmitted based on the firstsystem information. If yes, the second system information can bedirectly acquired from the information that is being transmitted by thebase station without sending an acquisition request to the base stationand the base station does not need to repeatedly send the second systeminformation. Thus, the efficiency of transmitting the system informationis improved and the signaling load of the base station is reduced.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a device 700 for transmitting systeminformation according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, thedevice 700 can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcastterminal, a messaging device, a gaming console, a tablet device, amedical device, a fitness equipment, a personal digital assistant, andthe like.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the device 700 can include one or more of thefollowing components: a processing component 702, a memory 704, a powercomponent 706, a multimedia component 708, an audio component 710, aninput/output (I/O) interface 712, a sensor component 714, and acommunication component 716.

The processing component 702 typically controls the overall operationsof the device 700, such as the operations associated with display,telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recordingoperations. The processing component 702 can include one or moreprocessors 720 to execute instructions to perform all or part of thesteps in the above described methods. Moreover, the processing component702 can include one or more modules which facilitate the interactionbetween the processing component 702 and other components. For instance,the processing component 702 can include a multimedia module tofacilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 708 and theprocessing component 702.

The memory 704 is configured to store various types of data to supportthe operation of the device 700. Examples of such data includeinstructions for any applications or methods operated on the device 700,contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. Thememory 704 can be implemented by using any type of volatile ornon-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a staticrandom access memory (SRAM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a read-only memory(ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.

The power component 706 provides power to various components of thedevice 700. The power component 706 can include a power managementsystem, one or more power sources, and any other components associatedwith the generation, management, and distribution of power in the device700.

The multimedia component 708 includes a screen providing an outputinterface between the device 700 and the user. In some embodiments, thescreen can include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel(TP). If the screen includes the touch panel, the screen can beimplemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user.The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches,swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can not onlysense a boundary of a touch or swipe action, but also sense the durationand pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. In someembodiments, the multimedia component 708 includes a front camera and/ora rear camera. The front camera and the rear camera can receive externalmultimedia data while the device 700 is in an operation mode, such as aphotographing mode or a video mode. Each of the front camera and therear camera can be a fixed optical lens system or have focus and opticalzoom capability.

The audio component 710 is configured to output and/or input audiosignals. For example, the audio component 710 includes a microphone(MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when the device 700is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and avoice recognition mode. The received audio signal can be further storedin the memory 704 or transmitted via the communication component 716. Insome embodiments, the audio component 710 further includes a speaker foroutputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 712 provides an interface between the processingcomponent 702 and peripheral interface modules, such as a keyboard, aclick wheel, buttons, and the like. The buttons can include, but are notlimited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lockbutton.

The sensor component 714 includes one or more sensors to provide statusassessments of various aspects of the device 700. For instance, thesensor component 714 can detect an on/off status of the apparatus 700,relative positioning of components, e.g., the display device and themini keyboard of the device 700, and the sensor component 714 can alsodetect a position change of the device 700 or a component of the device700, presence or absence of user contact with the device 700,orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the device 700, andtemperature change of the device 700. The sensor component 714 caninclude a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearbyobjects without any physical contact. The sensor component 714 can alsoinclude a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, used forimaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 714 canalso include an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magneticsensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 716 is configured to facilitatecommunication, wired or wirelessly, between the device 700 and otherdevices. The device 700 can access a wireless network based on acommunication standard, such as WiFi, 4G, or 5G, or a combinationthereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 716receives broadcast signals or broadcast associated information from anexternal broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In anexemplary embodiment, the communication component 716 further includes anear field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-rangecommunications.

In exemplary embodiments, the device 700 can be implemented with one ormore application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or otherelectronic components, for performing the above described methods.

In exemplary embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium including instructions is also provided, such as the memory 704including instructions, executable by the processor 720 in the device700, for performing the above-described methods. For example, thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, a RAM, aCD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device,and the like.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, when the instructionin the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is executed bythe processor of the device 700, the device 700 can execute a method fortransmitting system information. The method includes: receiving firstsystem information broadcast by a base station, wherein the first systeminformation includes identifiers and transmission status of a pluralityof pieces of second system information, wherein the transmission statusmay be used for indicating whether the corresponding second systeminformation is being transmitted, the first system information refers tothe system information that is periodically broadcast by the basestation, and the plurality of pieces of second system information referto the system information other than the system information included bythe first system information; acquiring a transmission status of targetsystem information from the first system information based on anidentifier of the target system information when the target systeminformation needs to be acquired, wherein the target system informationis any one of the plurality of pieces of second system information; andwhen determining that the target system information is being transmittedbased on the transmission status of the target system information,acquiring the target system information based on information that isbeing transmitted by the base station.

In one embodiment, before acquiring the target system information basedon the information that is being transmitted by the base station, themethod further includes: judging whether the transmission status of thetarget system information is a first transmission status, wherein thefirst transmission status may be used for indicating that the targetsystem information is being transmitted; and determining that the targetsystem information is being transmitted when the transmission status ofthe target system information is the first transmission status.

In one embodiment, the acquiring the target system information based onthe information that is being transmitted by the base station includes:acquiring a transmission mode of the target system information from thefirst system information; acquiring a broadcast address of the targetsystem information from the first system information when thetransmission mode of the target system information is a broadcast mode;and acquiring the target system information from the information that isbeing transmitted by the base station based on the broadcast address.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the device can receive thefirst system information broadcast by the base station. Since the firstsystem information includes the identifiers and the transmission statusof the plurality of pieces of second system information supported by thebase station, the device can acquire the transmission status of thetarget system information from the first system information when needingto acquire the target system information. The target system informationis any one of the plurality of pieces of second system information. Ifit is determined that the target system information is being transmittedbased on the transmission status of the target system information, thetarget system information can be directly acquired based on theinformation that is being transmitted by the base station withoutsending an acquisition request to the base station and the base stationdoes not need to repeatedly send the second system information. Thus,the efficiency of transmitting the system information is improved andthe signaling load of the base station is reduced.

Other embodiments of the present disclosure can be available to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practiceof the present disclosure disclosed herein. The present application isintended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the presentdisclosure following general principles of the present disclosure andinclude the common general knowledge or conventional technical means inthe art without departing from the present disclosure. The specificationand examples can be shown as illustrative only, and the true scope andspirit of the disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to theprecise constructions described above and shown in the encloseddrawings, and various modifications and changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosurecan be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for transmitting system information,comprising: broadcasting, by a base station, first system information,wherein the first system information includes identifiers andtransmission status of a plurality of pieces of second systeminformation, and the transmission status indicates whether correspondingsecond system information is being broadcasted or not; wherein the firstsystem information is system information that is periodically broadcastby the base station, and the plurality of pieces of second systeminformation are system information other than the system informationincluded by the first system information.
 2. A method for transmittingsystem information, comprising: receiving, by a user equipment (UE),first system information broadcast by a base station, wherein the firstsystem information includes identifiers and transmission status of aplurality of pieces of second system information, and the transmissionstatus indicates whether corresponding second system information isbeing broadcasted or not; wherein the first system information is systeminformation that is periodically broadcast by the base station, and theplurality of pieces of second system information are system informationother than the system information included by the first systeminformation.
 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:acquiring, by the UE, a transmission status of target system informationfrom the first system information based on an identifier of the targetsystem information, wherein the target system information is any one ofthe plurality of pieces of second system information; and in response todetermining, by the UE, that the target system information is beingbroadcasted based on the transmission status of the target systeminformation, acquiring, by the UE, the target system information basedon information that is being broadcasted by the base station.
 4. A basestation, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store aninstruction executable by the processor, wherein the processor isconfigured to: broadcast first system information, wherein the firstsystem information includes identifiers and transmission status of aplurality of pieces of second system information, and the transmissionstatus indicates whether corresponding second system information isbeing broadcasted or not; wherein the first system information is systeminformation that is periodically broadcast by the base station, and theplurality of pieces of second system information are system informationother than the system information included by the first systeminformation.
 5. A user equipment, comprising: a processor; and a memoryconfigured to store an instruction executable by the processor, whereinthe processor is configured to: receive first system informationbroadcast by a base station, wherein the first system informationincludes identifiers and transmission status of a plurality of pieces ofsecond system information, and the transmission status indicates whethercorresponding second system information is being broadcasted or not;wherein the first system information is system information that isperiodically broadcast by the base station, and the plurality of piecesof second system information are system information other than thesystem information included by the first system information.
 6. The userequipment according to claim 5, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: acquire a transmission status of target systeminformation from the first system information based on an identifier ofthe target system information, wherein the target system information isany one of the plurality of pieces of second system information; and inresponse to determining that the target system information is beingbroadcasted based on the transmission status of the target systeminformation, acquire the target system information based on informationthat is being broadcasted by the base station.